Justice Minister announces flood insurance | Stern.de

Almost a year after the flood disaster in southern Germany, Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has announced an obligation to insurance against elementary damage to residential buildings. “We need better protection against natural disasters, which also includes a broad insurance cover against elementary damage,” said Hubig of the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Friday edition). “In the coalition agreement, we therefore agreed to extend insurance cover against elementary damage,” said the SPD politician. According to the minister, the details should now be carefully checked.

The law that protects, provides a provision and solidarity “should still come during this parliamentary term, Hubig said. However, the project is “demanding”: “Neither the homeowners nor the tenants can be overwhelmed financially, but doing nothing is not an option,” she emphasized. Because the “consequences of floods and heavy rain are often a nightmare for those affected,” said Hubig and “climate change makes such extreme weather events more likely and more violent”.

At the moment, elementary damage such as floods or backlogs are not covered by many policies, which is why the state often comes to the aid of tax money, “when the weather devastates entire areas,” said the Minister of the “Augsburg Allgemeine”. “However, help for those affected must not depend on the ad hoc decisions of politics,” she added.

According to the coalition plans, the obligation should initially apply to the insurance industry, as the newspaper reports. In the case of new contracts, residential building insurance should only be offered with elementary damage coverage and in the existing business, all residential building insurance should be expanded to a key date with elementary insurance. State reinsurance should keep the cost risks for private insurance companies and the premiums for homeowners under control. It is still open whether private owners can do without insurance coverage under certain conditions, the “Augsburger Allgemeine” continues.

According to the entire Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV), a little more than 50 percent of all private houses are insured against elementary damage such as floods and floods in Germany. Again and again-especially after the flood disaster in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in June 2024-there were demands for compulsory insurance.

The GDV supported the federal government’s proposal to the “Augsburger Allgemeine”, but it was important for the design, said the deputy GDV general manager Anja Käfer-Rohrbach of the newspaper. “Duty insurance does not prevent weather extreme,” she emphasized. “We need a clear legal ban in flood areas,” said Käfer-Rohrbach.

The flood disaster from the beginning of June 2024 caused a total damage of 4.1 billion euros in southern Germany, as the “Augsburger Allgemeine” writes. According to the insurance industry, about half of this are not insured. Overall, weather extreme trees caused damage of 5.5 billion euros last year – the damage was therefore divided into property insurance and motor insurance.